Manufacture of nonmetallic sliding clasp fasteners



Sept. 29, 1942. J. PUSCHNER ETAL 2,297,245 I MANUFACTURE OF NONMETALLIC' SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed July 1, 1939 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JULI S :PUSCHNEE I JOSE? PUSCHNEZR awe/who've Fifim wawgm v.1. PUS'CHNER ETAL Sept. 29, 1942.

MANUFACTURE OF NONMETALLIC SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed July 1, 19:59 2 Sheeis-Sheet 2 gwuv/rvluams I JULIUS PUSCHNERI JOSE? PUSCHNER m K.9.M .&Qq; W

Patented Sept. 29, I

\ UNlTED YS-TAT ZMANUFAC EsP TENrJ OFFICE fazea'zgs v I TUBE or NONMETAILIC'SLIDIN CLA 'SP FASTENERS Julius lfiischner and Josef Piischner, Sudetengau, V Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian 3 ApplicationJuly 1,,1935, Serial No. 282,556- A n; Caechoslov'akia my '14, 1938 v 11 Claims. This invention relates to the production of sliding clasp fasteners in which the interlocking members consist of a non-metallic plastic mate-' rial. Sliding clasp fasteners of this kind have been produced hitherto by forming' the fastenen members by stamping or carving ,g operations, mounting them on the tape in a step by step ra is-5a) I Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a section of the- I Fig. 3. showsa portion of the strip applied to v th the web portions manner, and then securing'them to the tape bysticking with the aid of a solvent adapted to soften the surface of the preformed members. Sliding clasp fasteners of this kind have also been produced hitherto by moulding the interlocking members directly on to the edge of the mounting tape sothat the members are formed and secured to the tape simultaneously in one single operation.

- Fig. 7 shows a modification 'wherein the partlyformedfastener blank is secured ;to spaced back- 7 In the hitherto known processes where the fastener members are brought into association with the mounting tape step-wise and one at a n time; it is necessary to use accurate mechanism for the purpose of ensuring the cbrrectspacing of the members from each other. On the other hand, in processes where the members are formed by stamping or moulding in rows the' spacing between the members is secured bythe provision of accurate moulds or other forming out;

strip after. stamping; v

a fabric tape backing and W1 of the strip removed; v

Fig. 4 ma perspective view showing the-fastener elementssecured to ,the fabric backing and with-"intervening portions of the, fabric cut Fig. 5 shows the spaced fastener elements bent to final shape;

Fig. '6 is a plan viewofan'assembled fastener;

ing strips; r

Fig.- 8 shows the blank of Fig.7 centrally cut away to form spaced fastener elements;

Fig. ,9 shows the completed form of modified fastener; bentto final U-shape.

Theforegoing objects are achieved according to the present invention-by securing a strip of non-metallic plastic material to a tape which is mechanism, which may be of considerable length, e. g. up to several feet or more,ian'd, more-' over, the shape of the mould'parts for forming each individual fastener member is necessarily.

highly complicated in order to generate memv bers which are capable of'interlocking.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a process for the manufacture of sliding clasp fasteners of non-metallic material which represents an improvement over the processes hitherto used in the art both in respect to speed and economy of operation and simplicity of apparatus required. It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for. the manufacture of'such fasteners in .which the spacing between' the members is automatically Yshaped that when the composite article is bent operation-converted into individual fastener.

secured by a simple stampin or 'shapingopera' tion,'while avoiding the necessity oftaccurate assembling machines. Still further objects of the invention are'to provide a novel intermedi-' ate product for use in the manufacture-of slid.-

ing clasp fasteners and to provide novel-isliding, clasnfasteners of improved utility Other obv jects of the invention will become'apparent from the following description and drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a formed;

blank strip from which the fastener element is associated elements of the tape. The intermewider thanvthe 'strip and extends laterally on each side of the strip, and conducting one or more cutting, stamping, moulding or other shaping operations or a combination of such operaon the strip and thetape wholly or partly either before, during or after their union in about itsv longitudinal axis they are either automatically or with the aid of a further shaping members. The strip may be partially stamped or 10111; to shape before it is secured to the tape and also, if desired, the longitudinal slot 'may previouslv be cut iin the tape'so that the strip of -plastiematerial alone is subjected to a subsequent stamping or cutting operation. In this way-the elements ofthe non-metallicstrip extending. across the slot may be free from any diate product consisting of the ladder like strip and the tape isbent about its longitudinal axis -,intoj-a U-sh'aped form with" the non-metallic materialf on" the outsideofthe U-bend sothat the 2 laterally extending portions of the tape are brought together. The fastener stringer so produced is a novel product in the art and consists of a row of partly or completely finished fas- \neat and pleasing finish is secured.

In one embodiment of our invention as illustrated in Figures 1-6. of the accompanying drawings a fiat strip of non-metallic material of rectangular cross-section (Figure l) is stamped out by means of blanking or cutting tools to form a strip 2 of partly finished fastener members 1 connected together'by a centrally disposed stem portion 4 in the-manner illustrated in Figure 2.

The strip thus formed is then firmly secured to a fabric tape 5 by means of an adhesive. The adhesive may be any common adhesive available in the art or in placethereof a solvent for the non-metallic material may be used, such solvent softening the surface of the non-metallic material and generating the adhesive thereon. Pressure is preferably applied to the contacting surfaces during the sticking operation in order to obtain a secure bond.

The tape and the strip are then subjected to a blanking or cutting operation whereby part of the stem portion 4 is cut away leavinga ladderlike structure of which the rung-like elements 'I have projections 9 (Figure 3). In the same operation that part of the tape 5 lying between the members, as indicated in shade lines in Figure 3,

is also removed. This blanking operation thus produces an intermediate composite product having a ladder-like structure in which the stampedout elements I have a backing of the fabric material 5. vThis intermediate product may, how--v ever, be prepared in a number of ways, for example individual partly finished members of the type indicated at 'l in Figure 3 may be attached to the tape in correctly spaced relationship by can be removed before or after bending into U may not extend across the slot to form a backing for the whole of each member of plastic material.-

The intermediate product, shown at this stage in Figs. 9: and 8, is then bent over along the longitudinal axis of the strip into a U form with the plastic material on the outside of the U bend in order to produce a series of spaced-apart finished fastener members and the laterally extending portions of the tape are brought together as shown in Figure 5 (see also Fig. 8). The plastic material is preferably heated during the bending operation. may be on the inside of the U-bend, and in this manner a fastener can be producedin which the fastener members are covered with fabric. The stringers thus produced are then assembled together in pairs as shown in Figure 6, so that the members form an interlocking row 9, an operat-- ing slider III being provided of conventional design.

In a second embodiment of our invention as illustrated in Figures '7, 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings, the stripof non-metallic material is only secured at its edges to the two sides of the slot in the fabric tape. Optionally the slot may extend completely along the tape so that in effect the strip of non-metallic material is secured at its edges to two separate tapes.

Thus between thetapes the non-metallic strip I is free from any backing of-the mounting tape.

As can be seen from Figure 7 a strip ll of nonmetallic material is provided with laterally extending teeth l2, and this strip is secured to two mounting tapes l3 and as shown and in a manner similar to that described in the preceding embodiment of the invention. The strip of non-metallic material is then subjected to cutting or stamping operations in order to remove-part of the material lying between the gaps on each side. One such segment of material removed is shown means of a sticking operation or by moulding the members directly on to the tape in a simple two-part mould, the requisite portion of the tape lying between the members being removed by means of a subsequent stamping operation. Alternatively a plain strip of plastic material may be secured to the tape by sticking or by moulding the strip directly to the surface ofthe fabric and the composite article subjected to a stamping or cutting operation to produce the intermediate product. In this case certain parts of the plastic material lying between adjacent members are required to be removed without cutting through the fabric material of the tape.

However prepared .the intermediate product comprises a row of accurately spaced partly finished fastener members lying across a longitudinal slot extending along the length of the tape, each member being firmly secured to the tape at the sides of the slot by extensions which are preferably wider than the portion of the mem: bers lying within the slot. Each element of nonin the dotted lines in Figure 7, and as a result of such stamping or cutting operation there is generated a ladder-like composite intermediate structure illustrated in Figure 8. This is in every way similar to the composite intermediate structure of Figure 4, with the exception that the rung-like members extending across the longitudinal slot are not provided with a backing of the mounting tape. The composite strip is then bent into a U-shaped form about its longitudinal axis so that the elements I! are converted into the form of fastener members while the two mounting tapes l3 and M are brought together. The folded structure is shown in Figure 9 with the non-metallic material lying on the outside of the U-shaped bend, although in this and any other embodiment of-the invention it will be understood that the material can also be folded in the opposite direction so that the non-metallic material lies on the inside of the U-shaped band. The folded structureshown in Figure 9 constitutes'a single fastener stringer, and this is metallic material lying within the slot is prefer- 4 ably rectangular in form and is provided with a projection on one side mid-way across the slot. The members may optionally be secured to each other by a stem portion or spacing element which 76 assembled together with a similar stringer and with a slider in known manner. In this embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9 there are attained the advantages that the stamping or cutting of the non-metallic material is more easily effected, since there is no backing Alternatively the plastic material bers illustrated in the accomp yi drawings I serIesJof elements into' substantially U-sh ape and since the transverse rung-like elements can be modified in shape so as to give rise to other forms of fastenermembers when they are bent about the longitudinal axis of the composite strip. Thus, for example, the invention may be adapted for. the production of T-shaped'fastener members by providing projections on both sides of the rung-like members, and these projections may. be displaced to one side or the other of the central longitudinal axis ofthe composite strip. It is also possible to modify the shape of the members so that the two stringersto be bringing the tapes into close spaced relation for bers with fastener-element engaging means at 7 attachment of a web, and at some stage of the process removing such portions of the series of elements as to produce in the'iinished assemblage separatespaced U-shaped fastener mem the bend thereof.

3.4. process of making tape-mounting sliding clasp fastenersfrom an organic plastic material capable of being bent to shape and'of retaining itsshape after bending, comprising the opera- A tions of securing to elongate tape means a series assembled are not identical but are matched so that the projections on the one correspond with suitable recesses of the other. In general, it will be understood that any convenient or known form of fastener member may be adopted in carrying out the present invention provided that the member can be generated by'folding a suitably shaped flat strip in a U-shaped manner.

The non-metallic material used in accordance c with the present invention for constnibting the fastener members is preferably a thermoplastic composition and more particularly a cellulose derivative composition containing conventional ingredients in addition to the cellulose derivative, namely plasticizers, softeners, flllers, pigments, dyestuffs and the like. The cellulose dirivative may, for example, be cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate or other cellulose ester or vinyl cellulose or glycol cellulose or other cellulose ether. Vulcanised rubber compositions, for example of the vinyl type, may also be employed and also synthetic resin compositions, for example compositions containing vinyl resins, acrylateor methacrylate resins or styrene resins.

its new shape when deformed, comprising the This invention is not limited to the particmar embodiment in which the non-metallic material is stuck to the 'n'iountingftape, but it may also be secured thereto in other ways, for example by L moulding the non-metallic material-in. situ on to the mounting .tQpeorby it thereto by sewing, clamping,'riveting"or the like:

As many apparently widely diflerent embodi- 1 ments of this invention may be made without dj e parting from the spirit andscope thereof, it is We claim z to be understood that the'invention is not to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the'appended claims? ,50

clasp fasteners out of anorganicplastic material capable of beingbent to shape and'of. retainingthe shape afterbending, comprising the opera! tions of removing such portions of an elongate blank of such amaterial as to form a series of 1 separate transversely extending, fastener elements each having a central fastener-engaging portion, securing at least the end portions of said series of elements to elongate tape meansjthe v width of which is greater than the-transverse extent of the fastener means, and-bending the series of elements about the central longitudinal axis of the tape means into substantially U-shape with folding of the remote edges of the tape means into closel spaced relation for reception of a web therebetween.

2. A process of making tape-mounted sliding clasp fasteners 'out'of an organic plastic material capable of beingbent to shape and of re-' tainingtits shapeejafter bending, comprising'the like series of partially formed fastener elements of spaced strips of such a material each strip having a fastener-engaging projection extending midway of one side thereof, and bending the se- 4. A process of making tape-mounted sliding clasp fasteners from an organic material capable.

of being permanently deformed and of retaining operations of securing to elongate tape means a unitary strip of such a material having a series of opposite notches along each edge, cutting out pieces of the-strip in the shape of oblongs of long axes parallel to the axes of said notches with indentations centrally thereof whereby to pro--v duce a series of separate fastener strips with a projection at the middle of each strip, and bending the series of strips attached to the tape means about an axis through said projections. into-substantially U-shape.

-,5. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the plastic material is thermo-plastic and bending is carried out at an elevated temperature.

6. A sliding'clasp fastener stringer comprising a 'rowof spaced fastener members of an orf a fabricwhich is 'to be held by the fastener stringernthe double mounting'tape. and ends of the fastener members being sumcientlyqspaced :to permit insertion of such fabric to a point be- I tween the ends ofthe fastener members.

. 1 "7. Thematter of claim 6 wherein the double mountingtape is' in one piece and isformed of' a single, tape folded about its longitudinal ,1 a

between the fastener memfaces of the fastener members;

The processor laim 1 wherein the means comprises two tapes laterally spaced I "10. In processes of makingtape-mounted sliding clasp fasteners from sheeted organic plastic material capable of being bent to shape and of a retaining theshapelto which it isjbent, in which; a series offasteners. of such material at some t stage of completion is adhesivelyv se'cured'to elonoperations of attaching the edges of a laddergate tape means of width'greater than the lateral extent of the fasteners; the step which comu prises bending the series of fasteners at some stage of completion and while secured to ,thetape' v means',.about thecentral longitudinal axis 'of the tape means into substantially U-shape, with ifold-' to a pair of parallel spaced tapes, bending they ing of the remote edges ofthe tapemeansinto close opposition to receive edges of websiwhich' are to be fastened by the fasteners.

11. As an article of manufacture for use in the manufacture of tape-mounted sliding clasp fastenets which fasteners exhibit a U-shape' in a plane at right angles to'the plane'of the tape;

mounting tape means, a ladder-like substantially flat row of partially completed fastener elements of sheet organic plastic material, secured relation to each other.

' row being less than the width 0! meme means, 1

and the thickness of the sheet material beln: so small relative to said width as to permit bendthe over of the flat row into U-shape about the central longitudinal axis thereof to bring the outer margins of the tape means in opposed parallel JULIUS PUS'CHNER, Josrm' Ptiscnmm. 

